System for hot de-oiling and hot briquetting

ABSTRACT

A SYSTEM FOR HOT DE-OILING AND HOT BRIQUETTING MATERIAL WHEREIN THE MATERIAL IS HEATED TO BURN OFF OR VAPORIZE FOREIGN SUBSTANCES AND IS THEN TRANSPORTED TO A BRIQUETTING MACHINE FOR FORMING OF THE MATERIAL INTO BRIQUETS. THE AIMPROVEMENTS OF THE INVENTION RELATE TO A FURNACE CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF OPERATION FOR HEATING THE MATERIAL. THE FURNACE CONSTRUCTION INCLUDES A SINGLE HEARTH PROVIDING A COMBUSTION ZONE WHEREBY THE MATERIAL CAN BE FED TO THE COMBUSTION ZONE FROM INLET MEANS DEFINED AT THE SIDE OF THE FURNACE. AN OUTLET IS DEFINED IN THE HEARTH AND MOVABLE RAKE MEANS ARE PROVIDED FOR MOVING THE MATERIAL WITHIN THE FURNACE TO THE OUTLET FOR DISCHARGE AND FOR DELIVERY OF THE MATERIALS TO BRIQUETTING EQUIPMENT.

SYSTEM FOR HOT DE-OILING AND HOT BRIQUETTING Original Filed April 15. 1968 J. E- MOORE Nov. 2, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGO 2 SYSTEM FOR HOT DE-OILING AND HOT snmun rwgm Original Filed April 15, 1968 J. E- MOORE Nov. 2, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,616,515 SYSTEM FOR HOT DE-OILING AND HOT BRIQUETTING James E. Moore, Glenview, Ill., assignor to Komarek- Greaves and Company, a division of Berwind Corporation, Rosemont, Ill.

Original application Apr. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 721,474, now Patent No. 3,497,190, dated Feb. 24, 1970. Divided and this application Dec. 18, 1969, Ser. No. 886,157

Int. Cl. B23q 17/00; C21b 11/00 US. Cl. 29-403 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A system for hot de-oiling and hot briquetting material wherein the material is heated to burn off or vaporize foreign substances and is then transported to a briquetting machine for forming of the material into briquets. The improvements of the invention relate to a furnace construction and method of operation for heating the material. The furnace construction includes a single hearth providing a combustion zone whereby the material can be fed to the combustion zone from inlet means defined at the side of the furnace. An outlet is defined in the hearth and movable rake means are provided for moving the materials within the furnace to the outlet for discharge and for delivery of the materials to briquetting equipment.

This application is a division of copending application Ser. No. 721,474, filed Apr. 15, 1968, and now Pat. No. 3,497,190.

This invention relates to a system for hot de-oiling and hot briquetting. The invention is particularly concerned with the processing of materials such as crushed turnings, chips, borings, and other metal scrap, for example, those materials consumed in melting shops.

The briquetting of scrap materials such as turnings and borings has been recognized as a highly economical and efficient procedure. Turnings and borings have a composition which makes them highly suitable for use in charging operations in a foundry. These materials are readily available at low cost and, to add to the efficiency, they are often produced in a machine shop near a melting shop.

The turnings and borings have certain drawbacks, however, due to the fact that they are very small dimensionally and are usually coated with oil and water. These characteristics make them highly undesirable as additives in a cupola or in an electric furnace.

By hot de-oiling and hot briquetting the turnings and borings, the drawbacks referred to can be overcome. The briquets produced are of satisfactory size and density so that the original size of the turnings and borings is of no consequence when briquets are formed for addition to a melting furnace. Similarly, the oil and water on the turnings and borings is vaporized off as a regular step in the briquetting procedure so that the briquetted product will be virtually free of any oil and water traces.

The presence of oil on the turnings and borings presents another distinct advantage during hot briquetting. Thus, the oil serves as a fuel which is consumed as the oil is removed. This provides an ideal means for controlling temperature and non-oxidizing conditions in the combustion zone of a furnace employed for removing the oil. The air-to-fuel ratio within the furnace can be maintained at a desired level to provide a temperature of desired magnitude.

The system of this invention is also designed to eliminate adverse conditions which can arise due to the burning of the oil. Specifically, excess oil vapors and smoke can cause highly undesirable air pollution, and afterburner 3,616,515 Patented Nov. 2, 1971 means are provided for burning the excess oil to eliminate this problem. In addition, the discharge from the system can be scrubbed by suitable mechanisms to further reduce the introduction of contaminants into the air.

It is a general object of this invention to provide improvements in hot briquetting and hot de-oiling, particularly with respect to improvements in furnace constructions employed for removing foreign substances such as oil and water from the surfaces of the materials and simultaneously preheating the materials for briquetting or other use.

It is a more particular object of this invention to pro- Wide a furnace construction of the type described which is relatively low in cost and which operates with a high degree of efficiency, dependability and economy.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a furnace design which is particularly suitable for the treatment of discharge from the furnace for purposes of burning excess oil vapor and for avoiding the entrainment of dust in off-gases whereby little or no dust is carried from the furnace to the afterburner, scrubber and/or atmosphere.

These and other objects of this invention will appear hereinafter and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, specific embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a hot briquetting system of the type contemplated by this invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the furnace construction used in the briquetting system of the type shown in FIG. '1; and,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken about the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

The system of this invention is specifically designed for the processing of material such as turnings and borings. In accordance with prior practice, the turnings and borings are placed in a furnace construction for purposes of burning olf foreign substances such as oil from the surfaces of the turnings and borings. The hot materials are then transported to a briquetting machine for forming into briquets or utilized for other purposes. Although the invention will be described with reference to the treatment of metal, other materials can also be advantageously handled in these systems. For example, ores which have a fuel associated with the material when it is introduced into the furnace can be treated in accordance with the principles to be described.

In prior constructions employed for heating of the turnings and borings, it was thought necessary to provide a carefully constructed furnace which included different zones characterized by distinct operations. Thus, a central zone of such furnaces provided a primary combustion zone into which material to be briquetted was introduced. Means were provided for blowing the material into the furnace to scatter the particles since this was thought necessary to provide sufficient heat transfer.

A supplemental heating zone equipped with burners was located beneath the primary zone. Rakes were provided for gradually moving the material so that the material would eventually drop through the two heating zones.

Above the primary zone, an afterburner was provided. By the introduction of air into this afterburner zone, unburned oil vapors would be burned in the afterburner thereby reducing contamination of the atmosphere. Rakes were utilized in this zone for returning settled dust which collected on the floor of the afterburner chamber.

The instant invention provides a system for accomplishing hot processing of metal pieces in a more economical and efficient manner when compared with prior systems. It has been found that furnaces having a single particles can be virtually eliminated. Excess air is only introduced in the afterburner zone of the various constructions.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the above described systems which provide the characteristics of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. In a system for heating a mass of small, individual metallic pieces carrying foreign substances at least part of which are combustible whereby the burning of said substances assists in the heating of the metallic pieces, and for forming the hot metallic pieces into briquets, the improvement comprising a furnace construction for heating the metallic pieces, said furnace construction including a single hearth, at least one inlet opening defined in a side wall of said construction at the side of said hearth whereby said pieces and air can be placed directly onto the hearth where combustion occurs, a first outlet in the furnace defined by said hearth, rake means for moving said pieces over the surface of said hearth to said first outlet, said rake means defining blades operating to progressively drive said pieces from adjacent the side of the furnace construction across said hearth to said first outlet, and a second outlet defined by said furnace construction, the gases resulting from said combustion passing out of said furnace through said second outlet, said second outlet being in laterally spaced relationship to said inlet whereby said gases flow across material on said hearth from combustion areas to said second outlet, said hearth being stationary and including drive means for said rake means for movement of the rake means over said hearth, a briquetting machine, and including means connected to said construction for delivering said metallic pieces from said first outlet directly to said briquetting machine for thereby forming briquets made up of large numbers of said pieces.

2. A system in accordance with claim 1 including an afterburner communicating with said second outlet, said gases passing into said afterburner, and means for introducing air into the afterburner for burning of uncombusted portions of said gases.

3. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first outlet is located between the center line of said hearth and the side wall of the construction, a plurality of said inlet openings extending through said side wall for depositing pieces on said hearth at a plurality of positions with combustion occurring at each of said positions, said rake means operating to move said pieces from their respective positions to said first outlet, and wherein said second outlet is located above said first outlet whereby the gases formed as a result of the combustion flow across the furnace from the combustion locations to said second outlet.

4. A system in accordance with claim 1 including a rotatable post extending upwardly from the center of said hearth for supporting said rake means, said first outlet being located near said post, and wherein the blades defined by said rake means operate to move said pieces inwardly from the side of said hearth, and including at least one blade positioned adjacent said post for moving said pieces outwardly toward said first outlet.

5. A method for heating a mass of small, individual metallic pieces in a furnace construction wherein the pieces carry foreign substances at least part of which are combustible whereby the burning of said substances assists in the heating of the pieces, the improvement comprising the steps of continuously introducing said pieces through inlet means located adjacent the side wall of the furnace construction onto a stationary hearth and directly into a combustion zone adjacent the inlet means whereby the combustible substances in the material are ignited by hot pieces previously introduced into the combustion zone, providing a first outlet for said pieces, said outlet being defined by said hearth in a location away from said inlet means, providing a rake movable over said hearth, and progressively moving the pieces introduced toward said outlet, providing a second outlet for the combustion gases, said second outlet being located whereby the combustion gases move across and in contact with said pieces as they progress toward said second outlet, providing a briquetting machine in direct association with said first outlet, delivering hot pieces to said briquetting machine, and forming said hot pieces into briquets made up of a plurality of such pieces.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5 including the steps of providing an afterburner in association with said second outlet and burning uncombusted portions of said combustible substances.

7. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein air is introduced into the combustion zone along with said pieces, the amount of air introduced being controlled to provide approximately the amount necessary to support combustion whereby oxidizing conditions in the area of the combustion zone are minimal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,026,622 1/1936 Fleming 26326 X 2,232,556 2/1941 Nichols 110-l3 2,266,005 12/1941 Collis et a1 263-26 X 2,302,980 11/1942 Stern -68 2,660,966 12/1953 Lyons 26326 X 2,925,821 2/1960 MacDonald 14 X 3,328,843 7/1967 Murphy et al 18-9 X 3,346,417 10/1967 Ehrlich 134 2 JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner D. C. REILEY, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

29-200 D, DIG 7; 134--2; 263--26; 266-33 S Nov. 2, 1971 w. F. CORRISTON 3,616,516

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING INSULATED PIPE Filed Jan. 12, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet l mvsrmm kin F464 Z [ke /52v 

